As Schweiz am Sonntag writes in its current issue, UPC Cablecom is being harshly criticized by competitor Sunrise because the Cablecom basic fee is paid by the landlord and billed via the rent. It is criticized that these additional costs - not directly included in the subscription prices - distort competition. In order to ensure direct price comparison between UPC Cablecom and its competitors Sunrise and Swisscom, the connection fees would have to be communicated more transparently.

What has now become known and is likely to provide additional fuel for the fire: UPC Cablecom is paying part of the connection fees back to homeowners. As Schweiz am Sonntag estimates, this is likely to amount to a double-digit million sum per year. The company does not want to comment on the amount and justifies the payment by saying that the homeowners are being compensated "for their collection activities". It is not a question of commissions.

Documents obtained by the newspaper show that landlords receive three percent of the subscription fees. Certain homeowners receive - in the sense of a "loyalty bonus" - up to five percent. And the papers from the office of price supervisor Stefan Meierhans also make it clear that the payments are not compensation for collection activities. These can be claimed additionally according to another agreement not available to the price supervisor.

Sara Stalder, the executive director of the Foundation for Consumer Protection, criticizes this "kick-back system" as "non-transparent" and "highly questionable". The fact that the connection fees are billed via the rents could make sense, but the repayments would have to be shown.

However, the price supervisor - like Sunrise - does not generally approve of collecting charges via rentals. On the one hand, because the end customer is not confronted with the connection charge, and on the other hand, because there is an inhibition threshold for termination in the event of non-use. In addition, the landlord has an interest in the continuation of the contractual relationship through the repayments. (hae/Switzerland am Sonntag)

Image: UPC Cablecom
 

Since September 2015, they have been supporting their clients in this way with focused services relating to stakeholder management and project communication in complex environments. The two founders of Stakeholder Communication are initiators, consultants, moderators and implementers.

Before Felix Müller set up his own business with FMKomm in 2008, he gained experience in journalism (Anzeiger von Uster, Tages-Anzeiger), corporate communications (Holcim) and on the agency side. Urs Neuenschwander has been working as a freelance journalist, copywriter, SBB press spokesman, PR consultant and information officer for Zurich City Council since 2008.

Urs Neuenschwander and FMKomm will remain independent companies, according to the press release. Under the brand and agency umbrella of Stakeholder Communication, the two brand owners are working on new mandates in the areas of stakeholder management and project communication.

McDonald's may be acceptable for children as an exception, but certainly not as a habit. The whole thing is simply too unhealthy for that. Too sweet, too greasy, too one-sided. The exception here is, of course, the special case of Switzerland, where the fast food giant now smuggles fruit into children's Happy Meals (Werbewoche.ch reported). Incidentally, there are also said to be children who like fruit without a marketing offensive. Quite voluntarily and all that. But it's not just the little ones who feel at home in McDonald's Switzerland: Lidl-Schudel designs burgers for the grown-ups that are expensive - and much closer to a real burger than Big Mac and Co. Speaking of Big Mac: McDonald's in the USA is giving schoolchildren a campaign created by the Moroch agency to mark the start of school. Simple and beautiful. (hae)

By the way: Various comments on Adsoftheworld.com show that the idea of the second subject is not new. But a good idea can be used more than once.

The decisive factor was the issue of refugees. This was announced by Radio 1 on Saturday. The station justified the move by saying that since Köppel's entry into politics, the original constellation and the tone of the show had fundamentally changed. This had become particularly apparent in the discussions on the refugee situation in Europe. The debates had become increasingly unproductive, he said, and the political slogans had been "presented in increasingly extreme forms." "This is no longer acceptable for many Radio 1 listeners, as numerous reactions prove," the communiqué says. The format was launched more than four years ago and, according to Radio 1, was intended as a "direct and open discussion between two opinionated journalists" with different positions. Schawinksi regrets the end of the show. In the statement, he is quoted as saying that he made the decision only after long hesitation and many discussions - "but my basic understanding of journalism does not allow for any other conclusion." (SDA)

Roger vs Roger Podcast

"Would you like to watch a 5-minute movie and earn a franc?" asked activists on Grabenplatz in Winterthur on Saturday. Many passers-by stopped in amazement at this unusual offer and sat curiously in front of the screens. With the "Pay per View" campaign, the AG STG (Action Group of Swiss Opponents of Animal Experiments) provided information about animal experiments and also about animal-free research methods.

The film "Nonsense Animal Testing" by Doctors Against Animal Testing was shown at three mobile film stations in Winterthur city center. The six-minute film uses animated images and examples to explain clearly why the results are useless and often even dangerous for use on humans. The majority of the Swiss population knows very little about animal testing, as those responsible are happy to conceal the countless experiments, according to a statement from the AG STG, which has set itself the task of educating consumers.

"The widespread belief that animal experiments are necessary for our safety only lives on because the general public is not informed about the cruelty and nonsensical nature of animal experiments", complains Valentina Rossel, media spokesperson for the AG STG, and goes on to criticize: "The cruelty, the lack of transferability and the horrendous costs of animal experiments are deliberately concealed by those responsible, as otherwise they would lose their research funding". The amounts spent on animal experiments at universities amount to several hundred million Swiss francs every year. The federal government invests over 80 million in animal experiments through the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) alone. The Action Group of Swiss Opponents of Animal Experiments has long been calling for the consistent promotion and use of animal-free research methods. In December, the AG STG attracted attention with a campaign in which angels distributed poisoned Christmas cookies in Winterthur's old town (Werbewoche.ch reported).

The search is on for the Rating Champion. The winner will be the person who best predicts the expected ratings of eight blockbuster events of the coming sports year from football, tennis, skiing, Formula 1 and athletics. Prizes include two VIP tickets to selected Swiss sporting events for each round and two exclusive VIP tickets to the 2016 Swiss Federal Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Estavayer for the overall winner. The insider information provided by Rainer Maria Salzgeber and his fellow presenters in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino will help with the guessing process. The competition kicked off with a personalized print mailing and the sending of e-mails. From round two onwards, players will be reminded in good time to submit their tips. Betting on the microsite Ratingquiz.chwhich Publisuisse implemented in-house in the same way as the key visuals. There, the tips can be submitted until shortly before the event and all interim results can be called up.

Responsible at Publisuisse: Luca Jost (Project Manager Communication / Responsible Sponsoring); Rainer Binggeli (Head of E-Channel). Videos: TPC Zurich; Mike Dürig (Head of Graphics). Responsible at Formeldrei: Moritz Adler (creative direction); Christian Wüthrich (text/concept); Matthias Guggisberg (art direction); Patrick Ochsenbein (consulting). Photo: Jan Holgerson, Zurich.

This is according to the Reputation Monitor Politics published on Friday by the University of Zurich's Research Institute for the Public Sphere and Society (Fög). Almost a third of the media reports examined focused on the SVP, and almost a fifth on the FDP. This means that the two conservative parties receive more than half of the media attention, although together they account for around 40 percent of the electorate.

Top topic migration

According to the Monitor, the SVP is helped, among other things, by the fact that media coverage of the elections focuses heavily on the topic of migration. The topic of migration receives the most attention in reporting on the substantive issues of the parties, namely around 15 percent. In August, one in three articles on political issues even dealt with the topic of migration. By contrast, other important, institutionally anchored topics such as the reform of old-age provision were barely present. The SVP is also primarily perceived through the political field of migration, the researchers write. This corresponds to the party's self-image and shows that the SVP is able to set its own topics. However, the media mainly report negatively: "The high media attention generated by the provocative style is bought at the cost of a negative evaluation", the report continues.

Predominantly negative reporting

However, the other parties do not come off particularly well either: reporting on the parties is predominantly negative. The FDP still comes off best, followed by the SP. Measured against its voter share of 18.7 percent, the SP is underrepresented in the coverage - just 14.5 percent of the articles examined focused on the Social Democrats. The same applies to the BDP: "The BDP receives very little attention and tends to receive negative media coverage due to its presumed limited electoral chances." Coverage of the CVP, Greens and GLP roughly corresponds to their share of the electorate, according to the Monitor. However, the Greens and GLP are struggling to emancipate themselves from their image as a single-issue party with a focus on environmental policy. While the two parties were able to gain many voters in 2011 thanks to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, this effect is now disappearing. Their electoral chances would therefore be assessed negatively. For the Greens, the scandal surrounding Zug local politician Jolanda Spiess-Hegglin has also led to a lot of negative reporting.

For the reputation monitoring, the research institute examined the reporting from January 1 to August 31 of this year from six major newspapers in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland: Blick, NZZ, "Tages-Anzeiger", 20 Minuten, Le Matin and Le Temps. The Fög had already announced the study on Friday, and Schweiz am Sonntag reported on it on Sunday. (SDA)

Marketagent.com has been testing selected posters and advertisements once a month for Werbewoche for some time now. Since the beginning of 2015, the opinion researchers have also been examining TV commercials on an alternating basis. The editorial team selected five films that were frequently seen on screen in recent weeks. The commercials were shown to 457 web-active people from German-speaking Switzerland aged between 14 and 65.

The survey tested how well the TV commercials were remembered by the population (awareness) and how they scored on a six-point scale in terms of the key characteristics "Likeability", "Stands out from other TV commercials" (uniqueness) and "Fits my image of this advertiser" (brand fit). In this article, Werbewoche presents the overall awareness values achieved and the top box ratings for the key characteristics.

Gallo Suisse scores with happy chickens

In the Gallo Suisse commercial, the chickens are not only free, but happy - "oh happy day", according to the slogan. Although the ad only ranks in the lower range of unaided advertising recall (54.7%), it performs very well in all other areas: respondents like the ad the most (27.6%). It also fits the brand (22.3%) and stands out from other TV commercials (21.0%). The Battery Man is hot on the heels of the chickens, even if it is not very far ahead in unaided recall (61.1%). However, respondents like the commercial (17.5%) and it also fits well with the brand (21.9%). The highest unaided advertising recall was achieved by the Evian commercial with 67.2 percent, closely followed by Zürich Tourism. Their spot with the slogan "Life is too short for half measures" was also very well remembered (63.5%). Respondents liked the spot for Solidar Suisse relatively well with 14.9%.

The members of the Marketagent.com online access panel, which comprises around 43,400 active Swiss participants (as of August 2015), were interviewed using computer-assisted web interviews (CAWI). The online survey method guarantees anonymity and objectivity. (uma)

To the detailed results report (PDF)

(Image larger)

Olivier Rihs has been CEO of Switzerland's largest network of online marketplaces (AutoScout24, MotoScout24, ImmoScout24 and Anibis.ch) since April 2011. He did not plan his career from the beginning. Rather, in 2001, during his long journey in South and North America, the desire to tackle an exciting challenge grew in him. "I wanted to commit myself to a project that I could tackle with full commitment and a lot of curiosity," he says - and you believe him immediately. The athletic man in his mid-forties radiates a healthy self-confidence, and his cheerful openness comes across as authentic, especially since it is infused with a willingness to talk about mistakes and bad decisions. "Mistakes happen, especially in such a fast-growing and changing industry," says Rihs. He always encourages his employees, even if they are unsure, to try something rather than hesitate for a long time. After all, he says, you can learn from mistakes, but if you do nothing, nothing can happen.

Always in flux

Before working for Scout24, digital technologies were not a particular focus on Rih's resume. He graduated from the University of Lausanne with a degree in economics and worked in the automotive industry for almost ten years, including as district manager at GM Suisse SA in Biel and Peugeot Suisse SA in Bern. But he soon began to be fascinated by the digital and everything related to it. It's all about constant development, says Rihs. And that was exactly what he was looking for after his long journey through South America.

The beginnings of Scout24 Switzerland go back to the Internet boom phase of the nineties. In 1995, founder Daniel Grossen already had the idea of digitizing data and classified ads. The business developed rapidly. "Today, digital classifieds are available on every device in Responsive Design," says Rihs. Scout24 Switzerland is currently owned by Ringier Digital (56%) and the American financial investor KKR (44%). The latter is not only interested in returns, but also in taking the company to the next level. Both shareholders are therefore driving innovation forward in a targeted manner.

"Compared to America, we are certainly four to five years behind in digitization in Europe, especially in Switzerland," says Rihs. At the same time, it is clear that the use of the Internet and mobile devices in Switzerland is almost the highest in the world. In many companies, however, this is not yet reflected in marketing budgets, for example. Just about 13 percent of all advertising spending was allocated to digital in 2014. "Switzerland therefore has a huge amount of catching up to do," concludes Rihs. In this environment, Scout24 sees itself as a driver of digital innovations. One wants to focus on the potential of digital marketplaces and their advertising opportunities, in the car, or real estate sector as well as with classifieds, says Rihs. Scout24 analyzes customer wishes and needs in detail and tries to cleverly connect the different stakeholder groups. "It's all about networking and innovation," Rihs sums up.

Well-trained employees are needed to drive the digital transformation forward. But this is precisely where Rihs currently sees a major challenge: not just in Switzerland, but worldwide, there are too few software engineers, too few specialists. The core business is run by the approximately 260 employees in Switzerland. However, Scout24 also works decisively with external forces. In 2008, the company bought a company in Vietnam with 30 software engineers. "Not because it would be cheaper there, but because we find exactly the people with the appropriate skills that we need there," Rihs emphasizes. In his opinion, the authorities have a greater obligation to support digitization in Switzerland and to promote appropriate training. After all, software development is still a male-dominated industry. But he also recognizes a new, encouraging development: "Young women in particular with an affinity for technology are increasingly starting with us as career changers," says Rihs.

With 40,000 francs to a healthy company

Scout24 has not grown quickly to its current size, but it has been continuous and stable. Moreover, the company started very small as a start-up. The founder had just 40,000 francs to invest, Rihs reveals.

Today, Scout24's approximately 260 employees work in a large, modern building. The Minergie building is located right next to a large field and a group of single-family homes, surrounded by hills and fields. The high window fronts of the Scout24 building provide an unobstructed view of it from every office location. Flamatt, Scout24's headquarters, is in the middle of nowhere - or so it seems. However, the location is well situated for employees from Fribourg and Bern as well as from Thun or Lausanne. In the early days, the location was not an advantage when it came to recruiting staff, says Rihs. In the meantime, however, employees enjoy coming to Flamatt, whether by e-bikes, car or train - some of them even from Zurich. This is not necessarily because of the idyllic surroundings, but certainly because of the generally ecologically healthy attitude of the management level. For example, there is no free coffee for employees, but there is fruit. The brightly colored walls reflect the light more intensively, so that less electricity is needed. There is a large gym in the basement, and the food in the staff restaurant is a special highlight, as various employees confirm. A good-humored, relaxed mood strikes visitors even before they enter the building. This helps in stressful times, too, they say. "We have to perform very well; our customers have high expectations," Rihs emphasizes. He himself occasionally works from home, and regularly on weekends. He is and has to be very flexible when it comes to organizing his private life and work, he reveals. Fortunately, he has a family that fully supports him in this. That's why he doesn't expect his employees to answer his e-mails on weekends. Despite ambitious goals, work-life balance is a top priority at Scout24.

Ursina mason

In a nutshell
Olivier Rihs began his career at Scout24 Switzerland in 2002 as Chief Operation Officer (COO). In 2005, he was appointed Director of the AutoScout24 platform, a position he held until 2009. Between 2009 and 2011, Rihs was responsible for the AutoScout24, MotoScout24, ImmoScout24 and JobScout24 marketplaces as Chief Commercial Officer. In this position, he was responsible for the overall sales budget and growth of the individual marketplaces, with the aim of expanding AutoScout24's market-leading position and achieving the same position at ImmoScout24 and JobScout24 (in cooperation with Jobs.ch). Olivier Rihs is 45 years old and father of two children. He grew up in Biel and is a native French speaker. A passionate sportsman, he used to play football intensively and now finds his balance in his family, jogging, skiing and golfing or as a fan at EHC Biel games and as a sponsor of SC Bern, HC Fribourg-Gottéron and Lausanne Hockey Club.

The poster enables a rapid build-up of reach and awareness, as it guarantees a high level of accessibility to the target groups and is present around the clock. It demonstrably has the greatest leverage effect of all traditional media when it comes to increasing sales success and therefore achieves the highest ROI as a basic medium, as Clear Channel writes in a press release. As now the only mass medium, out-of-home advertising also plays a door-opening role for online campaigns and mobile advertising, whose strength lies in interaction, the press release continues.

In June 2015, the sales impact of a yogurt drink campaign by Hirz was tested. The POS poster campaign comprised 365 poster sites in 176 selected Coop stores and was displayed for two weeks. The campaign was further enhanced by the coordinated use of location-based mobile marketing, whereby the geo-location data of the poster sites was linked with Adello's mobile advertising and targeting options.

Oliver Schönfeld, Marketing Director Clear Channel: "For a few months now, we have been offering our customers exclusive cross-media products with which outdoor advertising campaigns can be strengthened, deepened and extended using mobile marketing. As an ideal partner for mobile marketing, outdoor advertising acts as a strong driver for immediate response and interaction. It is very pleasing that we can prove the significant effect of this offer with this study - Hirz was able to increase sales of the yogurt drink by 36% during the campaign period compared to the previous year. Household penetration has also increased considerably, namely by 78% compared to before the campaign."

Etienne Schumpf, Brand Manager Hirz at Lactalis Nestlé, adds: "We are extremely satisfied with the increased sales figures; the cross-media campaign at the POS had a very positive impact on our results. In addition to the increase in sales and household penetration, we were able to boost our market share by 2.45 percentage points."

 

McDonald's is using the popularity of the Happy Meal to make vitamins palatable to its young guests. The addition of fruit to the Happy Meal is recognized by the "5 a Day" campaign sponsored by the Swiss Cancer League. This is good news for everyone who values a balanced diet. But what do the children think? The campaign developed by TBWA\Zurich uses print, online and film to show children's reactions in a way that is amusing for adults. In addition to the campaign, children were filmed by their parents with hidden cameras opening the Happy Meal boxes. The resulting film and an additional sweepstake encourage parents to make their own videos and post them on the Campaign website post.

Responsible at McDonald's Switzerland: Thomas Truttmann (VP Marketing, Communications, Public Affairs, Supply Chain), Sébastien Dubey (Senior Marketing Consultant), Aglaë Strachwitz (Communications & Public Affairs Manager), , Christel Stadelmann (Communications Consultant Social Media). Responsible at TBWA\Zurich: Bruce Roberts, Cyrill Wirz, Bettina Klossner, Stephanie Seematter, David Voges, Tizian Walti (creation), Simon Rehsche, Michaela Büsse (strategy), Stephan Lanz, Anna Magnaguagno, Katalin Bertyak (consulting), Tobias Jean, Serge Meierhofer (digital), Agnes Meier (production). Film/Photo Production: Ilonka Galliard (Art Buying), Frieke Janssens (Photography), Ferco Dregelyvari (Image Editing), Andreas Vermeulen (Producer Slow Motion), Frank J. Estermann (Producer Virals), Südlich-t (Post Production), Alex Kirschner (Music). Responsible at Goldbach Interactive: Mario Kurmann (Senior Consultant), Larissa Mörgeli (Junior Consultant), Nadine Franzen (Senior Consultant), Oliver Kohler (Consultant Project Manager). Responsible at Yjoo Communications / Media & Stakeholder Relations and Internal Communications: Nina Krucker (CEO), Lea Schindler (Senior Consultant), Katja Sommer (PR Coordinator). Responsible at OMD Switzerland / Media: Adrian Thomann (Account Director), Michael Zaugg (Digital Lead).
 

Description
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an obsessive-compulsive disorder that manifests itself in an inner urge to establish design guidelines (CI rules). The associated loss of flexibility leads to severe impairments in everyday creativity (idea development). Those affected defend themselves against the compulsion as it seems pointless, but are unable to counteract it voluntarily.

Obsessive thoughts
The fear of being held responsible for possible disaster leads to mental circles around certain topics. Spacing: Changing positions of logo and headline could make the brand invisible. Imagery: Perhaps text-only solutions torment the reader with emotional coldness. Brightness: Clouds, dark shadows or black lines may plunge the target group into deep sadness.

Compulsive actions
The clinical picture ranges from obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions to elaborate compulsive rituals (CI workshop). In order to reduce tension, the compulsion to order requires the exact execution of a ritualized chain of actions.

Diagnosis
Constraints of great complexity and bizarreness are recorded in writing (CI manual). New actions that creep in in the meantime must be included in the report as exceptions. However, this usually delays the binding conclusion of the report to such an extent that a completely new system of rules develops in parallel.

Published so far:

Customer distemper (procure distemper)
Director's Cut (conceptus amputatis)
Salmon jam (risum interrupta)
Premature mark effusion (ejaculatio logo praecox)
Idea bedsores (decubitus idea)
Panic-progressive disorder (morbus pendulum)
Margin inflammation (gastritis profit)
Success strabismus (strabismus successus)
Gold fever (febre auri)
Platitourette (repetitio nausea)
Visual fetishism (stimulus best practice)
Probonose (thrombosis facsimile)